Now I’m working on the 4th draft of chapter 18. It’s pretty short and it revisits a book one location, but with a twist. Did I do that already? I can’t remember.

Here’s the poem that describes it:

An invitation from a girl that’s been ignored.

A trip to a pristine house, quite adored.

Once-rivals meet while a question’s unspoken:

Is it fair to keep my world, while allowing yours to be broken?

—–

I’m still having trouble finding people to illustrate my next book cover. I’d also like pictures of my characters for the bios section on this site. My friend Matt told me about AI illustrations that are generated on websites. And I can even use them for free! Could my problems be solved!?

The site I found is called ‘Stable Diffusion.’ It has a space to type positive prompts, for the stuff you want; and a place to type negative prompts, for the stuff you do not want.

So let us begin with Officer Mackaba! He’s the early antagonist that chases Mean around the abandoned Hardpan City. I’ll put the positive prompts in italics for your viewing pleasure, followed by the resulting picture. Continue reading →

Okay, now I’m on the 4th draft of chapter 17! It’s an event that you’ll KNOW is going to happen from early on in the book, you’re going to WANT it to happen, and it’s my job to make it as satisfying as possible. Here’s the preview:

The wilted bloom takes the stage at last;

her presence and strength bound to the past.

How best to cultivate this flower?

Apply pressure! Truth! Swell with power! Continue reading →

I’m currently working on the 4th draft of chapter 16. There is quite a bit of pointless drama to cut out this time. It’s mostly romance between characters and explicit displays of affection. You know, the kind of stuff people hate reading about. Kim told me it was all unnecessary, so it’s gone now. Whew! Close one.

But I couldn’t just leave it at that. I replaced the cut scenes with the kind of drama that everyone loves: character-driven emotional outbursts! I really like this one. And remember: I wouldn’t add something unless I thought it was an improvement over what I cut out. But… I can’t go into detail without spoilers.

So as usual, here’s another vague poem to describe chapter 16: Continue reading →

I’m almost done with the 4th draft of chapter 15. Let’s get the vague poem that describes the contents going:

Today a school of fish are spied;

the angler grins, his hair now dyed;

hungrily one takes the bait;

soon three more flop to their plates;

a fifth is steamed, one more is fried;

the seventh lets the first inside. Continue reading →

I finished the 4th draft of chapter 14. Here’s the vague, nonsensical poem that represents it:

An emergency that is dire indeed;

Flame is required for the prisoner, freed;

Quenched next in a world of both trauma and laughs;

On one of the group, suspicion is cast. Continue reading →

Update on Abandonment Party 2, chapter 12, 4th draft: Got it done; added all the intrigue and character-driven agency that Kim wanted. But this chapter was waaaaay too long. 26 pages. I found a good opportunity for a break and a DRAMATIC ending line, so I split it up into two chapters. Chapter 12 will be “Villan’s Legacy” and 13 will be “Prisoner.” Tell me what you think, even though you don’t know the contents of the text. Unless you’re Kim or Matt. Then you can tell me what you think of those titles. Unless you forgot what happened AGAIN, Matt.

Speaking of Matt, the 21st was his birthday! Congrats! You da best! I went out to eat with him and his sister to a public place called Westport Social. It’s kind of like a bar inside a warehouse with cruise ship party games spread around. Here’s a photo I took: Continue reading →

An error in the FIRST book, that is. Yes, David—the master of logic, aerodynamics, and physics—has found a plot hole in Abandonment Party.

And it has nothing to do with the MASSIVE FLYING OBEJECTS that are present in the final pages. He said all that was fine. So where is the error? It begins in the “Clash of Automatons” chapter. Open your Kindles and join me there, won’t you? Continue reading →

I’m nearly done with the 4th draft of chapter eleven. Back in the 3rd draft, Mean had a bit of an easy time beating an enemy. Kim read this and said ‘SO BORING! Brad, you can do better! Give her a worthy challenge! A true struggle!’

So I stepped up! I slammed Mean down into an unwinnable situation. Pain! Danger! I nearly wrote myself into a corner! NEARLY. I can’t say what happens here, but I came up something. YEAH. SOMETHING. No one told me how much spoilers they want so I guess we’re doing weird poems again.

Shadowed eyes follow the woman that flies.

A still rain falls upon them both.

To escape the storm would spell death.

The heat is unbearable. Why not steal it?

In other news I met with my friend David at church. He usually runs the technical side of the presentation in his free time. Once a month, after the sermon, he comes to find me. This Sunday he told me that he was almost done reading Abandonment Party.

There is something you need to know about David: he has the most logical mind I’ve ever experienced. He is an engineer that has NOT worked on flying drones for Walt Disney World presentations, (That was his friend.) but he has a great understanding of aerodynamics and physics. Also, as far as I can tell, he has NEVER lied to me.

So I was quite excited to hear that he was reading the book. If he noticed any errors about physics, I KNOW he would tell me. So what did I find out so far? Let’s look: Continue reading →

I’m nearly done with the 4th draft of chapter 10. Not much action; it’s a bit of a breather chapter that introduces a new location and revisits an old one. I could say more, but….

Man, it’s getting tough to talk about this book without spoiling the plot. 😒

I mean, I COULD just spoil it. It’s the kind of thing that would be included in the Amazon summary anyway. So what should I do? How much should I reveal? I suppose I’ll ask any readers to voice their wishes in the comments below. And if I receive no comments then I’ll just keep doing whatever I want!

So until then I’ll just have to talk about the chapters in coded and annoying verse. Prepare yourself. Continue reading →

I’m nearly done with the 4th draft’s chapter nine. One last check through Kim’s margin notes and it should be good to go.

Did I mention there are way more characters in the second book? Double or triple the amount that were present in the first! Just keep in mind I’m terrible at math. OH! And minus Tyle, Dring, and Kates. I’m not saying those characters are done for good; just that they don’t have much of a purpose in this next story.

The rest of the main cast (Mean, Vornis, Dark, Darrow, Tome, Trisk) DOES return, and the new characters are designed to challenge the original group. Reveal new facets of their personalities. That sort of thing.

These new characters also tie in to what I mentioned in an earlier update: the cultural lore! Yes, the ‘new guys’ will have knowledge of the planet’s history! For instance, in chapter nine, a character with the initials ‘D.V.’ shows up. This character alone will:

1. Introduce a new nation that existed.
2. Reveal the mores and stigmas of this nation, which affected people like Parlay.
3. Bring new technology into the story with weapons and items tied to the history of their home nation.
4. Teach Vornis a valuable lesson about himself.

Exciting, right? And again, this cultural stuff WILL have a purpose to the story. The story of how the entire world was destroyed.

Well, I think that’s enough updating for now. So long!